Its been a while since I've been in the VTCC/ROTC and most of the people I knew have all graduated by now. So someone else here can probably give you more recent experience. But bottom line in my opinion: the VTCC is really what you make of it.

Freshman year there is very much like being at a service academy. Its a strict lifestyle that essentially consumes your first year of college. Other than attending classes during the week and studying, all of your time will be spent doing VTCC activities. However, as an upperclassman you have a lot more freedom to choose your level of participation. If you want to stay involved, you can with other Corps activities like Skipper Crew, Color Guard, the rifle drill team, trying for leadership/cadre positions in the VTCC, etc.

If you don't want to be heavily involved, then you can really limit your participation to just living in the cadet dorms, wearing a uniform, and attending formation every day. You'll have the freedom as an upperclassman to join a frat, make non-VTCC friends, go to parties, go downtown (when you're 21), do intramurals, etc. You can still enjoy your time in college as an upperclassman, whether that enjoyment is based on the VTCC or more traditional college things is up to you. Either way you'll still end up graduating and commissioning in the end, assuming you don't get into trouble.

Its important to remember that the VTCC and your ROTC unit are two very separate things. Some cadets are very heavily involved in ROTC and not very involved in the VTCC and vice versa. Some are equally involved in both. I recommend putting the bulk of focus on academics and ROTC commitments, since that's where your career is going to come from...not the VTCC. ROTC instructors aren't going to "look down" on someone for not being heavily involved in the VTCC. But they will look down on someone if they don't take ROTC seriously.

The VTCC leadership preaches that their program will make you a higher quality officer than other commissioning sources. That's understandable since its their job to do so, however, I don't buy into it. Not very much of what they do is geared towards life as an actual military officer. As a cadet there, you should be paying more attention to the active duty officers/NCOs who run the ROTC units, rather than the junior and senior class cadets who run the VTCC.

I'm not trying to bash the VTCC experience, as there are some real benefits there. For instance I met some my closest friends there, who I still keep in touch with today. I also learned a great deal about how the other services work, since I spent four years living with Army/Navy/Marine cadets and interacting with their ROTC units. That actually still benefits me today, since I regularly work with other services in deployed environments and it helps to know how a Marine MAGTF is organized, what Army OPORDS and CONOPS look like, and how various Navy assets are employed together.

Honestly, despite my lack of enthusiasm for the VTCC, I still am very happy that I chose to go to VT. The campus, atmosphere, professors, ROTC units, and surrounding community are all outstanding. Like I said, I met a lot of great people there (including my wife). So I really have no regrets in terms of attending VT. Good luck!

Its been a while since I've been in the VTCC/ROTC and most of the people I knew have all graduated by now. So someone else here can probably give you more recent experience. But bottom line in my opinion: the VTCC is really what you make of it.

Freshman year there is very much like being at a service academy. Its a strict lifestyle that essentially consumes your first year of college. Other than attending classes during the week and studying, all of your time will be spent doing VTCC activities. However, as an upperclassman you have a lot more freedom to choose your level of participation. If you want to stay involved, you can with other Corps activities like Skipper Crew, Color Guard, the rifle drill team, trying for leadership/cadre positions in the VTCC, etc.

If you don't want to be heavily involved, then you can really limit your participation to just living in the cadet dorms, wearing a uniform, and attending formation every day. You'll have the freedom as an upperclassman to join a frat, make non-VTCC friends, go to parties, go downtown (when you're 21), do intramurals, etc. You can still enjoy your time in college as an upperclassman, whether that enjoyment is based on the VTCC or more traditional college things is up to you. Either way you'll still end up graduating and commissioning in the end, assuming you don't get into trouble.

Its important to remember that the VTCC and your ROTC unit are two very separate things. Some cadets are very heavily involved in ROTC and not very involved in the VTCC and vice versa. Some are equally involved in both. I recommend putting the bulk of focus on academics and ROTC commitments, since that's where your career is going to come from...not the VTCC. ROTC instructors aren't going to "look down" on someone for not being heavily involved in the VTCC. But they will look down on someone if they don't take ROTC seriously.

The VTCC leadership preaches that their program will make you a higher quality officer than other commissioning sources. That's understandable since its their job to do so, however, I don't buy into it. Not very much of what they do is geared towards life as an actual military officer. As a cadet there, you should be paying more attention to the active duty officers/NCOs who run the ROTC units, rather than the junior and senior class cadets who run the VTCC.

I'm not trying to bash the VTCC experience, as there are some real benefits there. For instance I met some my closest friends there, who I still keep in touch with today. I also learned a great deal about how the other services work, since I spent four years living with Army/Navy/Marine cadets and interacting with their ROTC units. That actually still benefits me today, since I regularly work with other services in deployed environments and it helps to know how a Marine MAGTF is organized, what Army OPORDS and CONOPS look like, and how various Navy assets are employed together.

Honestly, despite my lack of enthusiasm for the VTCC, I still am very happy that I chose to go to VT. The campus, atmosphere, professors, ROTC units, and surrounding community are all outstanding. Like I said, I met a lot of great people there (including my wife). So I really have no regrets in terms of attending VT. Good luck!

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Thank you for your response, it is very thorough and helpful. There are many good points that I will take into consideration. I have received a ROTC scholarship and accepted it to Virginia Tech. Although I am still waiting on West Point, my plan B is in place, and I am excited to become part of the class of 2019 in the VTCC!

Is the town around college good to live in? Are cadets able to have passes to see it? Thank you.

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Blacksburg is a very small town that's very much centered around the VT campus. So if you're interested in living in a big city or having access to all of the things you might find somewhere like northern Virginia, then Blacksburg probably isn't for you. But if you like a small town type of community, with beautiful mountain scenery and genuinely nice people then VT definitely offers that.

Main street Blacksburg is adjacent to campus and actually about 100yds from where the cadet dorms are located. There are plenty of nice restaurants and bars within walking distance and upperclass cadets can enjoy downtown about as much as any other student. Freshman life is much more restrictive for cadets, and if they do receive a pass on the weekends its generally only for a few hours before they have to be back in the dorms.